New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is demanding information from eight big banks on how they structured their payouts. The banks under order are: Bank of America (BAC), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), State Street Bank (STT) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

Cuomo's letter specifically demands: 1. "A description of all bonus pools for 2009, including a description of the process by which the pools were or will be established." 2. "A description of your bonus program to include cash, stocks and other incentive breakdowns, vesting periods, clawback provisions and any other provisions to tie compensation to performance."

The latest litigation has Intel Inside.

The State of New York is going after Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) over antitrust allegations. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is accusing the largest chip manufacturer in the world that it is trying to secure a global monopoly for microprocessors.

For several years, Cuomo said that Intel has pushed the likes of Dell (NYSE: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to agree to the exclusive use of Intel's gear in exchange for billions of dollars in payments. The hefty cash outlays have given what Cuomo called a "stranglehold" on the market.

Let's dive into the world of breaking news here, as the New York Attorney General's office has decided to mark the one-year anniversary of the financial meltdown by preparing charges against some Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) executives. Reportedly, the charges stem from the failure to disclose details about the company's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The Attorney General (Andrew Cuomo) is likely to file charges against the executives because of their failure to alert shareholders to mounting losses and accelerated bonus payments at Merrill. Earlier, a federal district judge rejected a $33-million settlement between BAC and the SEC over the same executive bonuses. This settlement was in relation to the fact that BAC did not inform shareholders of an agreement to pay Merrill Lynch execs billions of dollars worth of bonuses, the deal was struck before BAC acquired Merrill.

Brokerage house Charles Schwab & Co. (NASDAQ: SCHW) is facing the wrath of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The state's top attorney sent a letter to Schwab last Friday, warning that he plans to sue the firm for civil fraud in relation to its marketing and sales of auction-rate securities (ARS). Cuomo added that he is open to a possible settlement, although Schwab must be willing to repurchase ARS from its investors who are still holding them.

In response, Schwab is defending itself. "The Attorney General's allegations are without merit," stated the brokerage firm. "They unfairly lay blame on our company for an illiquid market and improper behavior by the large Wall Street firms."

An outspoken group of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) shareholders has been calling for CEO Kenneth Lewis's head lately, with investors none too pleased by the bank's near-disastrous acquisition of Merrill Lynch. However, testimony is hitting Wall Street today that indicates Lewis was simply following government orders by keeping hefty losses at Merrill under wraps.

Lewis testified under oath before New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in February, asserting "it wasn't up to me" to disclose Merrill's fourth-quarter losses toward the end of 2008.

According to Lewis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pressured him to stay mum about Merrill Lynch's troublesome balance sheet. The regulators reportedly urged Lewis to proceed with the merger, warning that the deal's failure would "impose a big risk" to the nation's financial system.

Wall Street is supposed to be a support function -- helping CEOs come up with cash to make investments. But since Ronald Reagan, Wall Street has become the tail that wags the economic dog.

Today, Paul Krugman highlighted this by pointing out that in the 1960s, Wall Street accounted for 4% of GDP -- a figure that rose to 8% by 2007. Reagan began a process of deregulating Wall Street and in 2004, the SEC let financial institutions borrow way too much. The result is an unprecedented economic catastrophe, including an American International Group (NYSE: AIG) bailout that will cost another $1.6 trillion.

After days of rallying, the market decided that bank stocks had gone much too far. With no first quarter earnings out, the fact is that the current quarter could still be tough. Financial shares could still reset lower. The market reacted accordingly.

The unofficial numbers for the day broke out like this:

Dow 7,278.38 -122.42 (-1.65%)
S&P 500 768.54 -15.50 (-1.98%)
Nasdaq 1,457.27 -26.21 (-1.77%)

TOP ANALYST CALLS

A report today in the New York Post suggests that shareholders are anxious to oust Kenneth Lewis, CEO of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC). The paper says that a group of angry investors, spearheaded by Jerry Finger, has compiled a list of demands to present at the bank's next annual meeting. Finger and his irate mob will request that the roles of CEO and chairman be split, and the outspoken investor said it's safe to assume that a brand-new chief executive is also high on his wish list.

Finger made headlines last month by filing a class-action lawsuit against B of A, alleging that its merger with Merrill Lynch failed to protect shareholders' interests. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is now investigating that very same matter, and reports say that the AG may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses to Merrill employees that were rushed through prior to the merger's completion.

It takes quite a bit to make our new president angry, but a New York Times report saying that Wall Street paid $18.4 billion in bonuses last year as companies teetered on the brink of collapse did the trick.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, President Obama seemed livid at the financial services industry. He called the payouts "the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful."

Wall Street might want to forgo bonuses for everybody. That's Obama's view and it is probably shared by the majority of the American people. Vice President Joe Biden told CNBC that he wants to lock up Wall Street bad guys.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner already had to twist Citigroup Inc.'s (NYSE:C) arm to "change its mind" about buying a corporate jet. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch before its acquisition by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Then, of course, there are the shenanigans at American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG).

Isn't it finally time to put someone in charge of the SEC who really cares about investors?

There are many well qualified candidates. Here are a few suggestions:

William Galvin: The highly respected Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has taken on the industry and recovered millions of dollars of damages for aggrieved investors.

Joe Borg: Executive Director of the Alabama Securities Commission. Mr. Borg has a stellar record of protecting the interests of investors in Alabama.

Andrew Cuomo: The Attorney General of New York. He knows the industry and has shown great tenacity in exposing the recent fraud involving Auction Rate Bonds and other misdeeds.

Mary Schapiro, who is President-elect Obama's choice, has spent her career protecting the securities industry from investors.

Executive pay is like the weather. Everyone complains about it but no one does anything to change it. That is until New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo tangled with AIG (NYSE: AIG).

Cuomo, the son of a former New York governor who reportedly wants the job himself one day, convinced the embattled insurer to suspend payments from a $600 million bonus fund as well as a $19 million payoff to its former chief executive Martin J. Sullivan, according to The New York Times.

This is good news for taxpayers for a number of reasons. First, the thought of executives at a firm that was bailed out by taxpayers the tune of tens of billions of dollars getting bonuses was galling. Sullivan and his colleagues were supposed to be rewarded to creating value for shareholders, which they obviously failed to do. Cuomo also set a precedent that might apply to executives at other failed companies such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER).

Bullish comments from Warren Buffett and better-than-expected earnings from Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) may not help boost the stock market. Futures were down because of lingering concerns about consumer confidence. Markets in Europe are rallying and were mixed in Asia. President Bush also is scheduled to give a "pep talk" to investors today.

Writing in the New York Times, Buffett said he is buying American stocks. "Let me be clear on one point: I can't predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven't the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month - or a year - from now., " he writes. "What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up."

Here is a look at other news which may interest investors:

• OPEC called an emergency meeting as oil slipped below $70 a barrel
• Small businesses are feeling the effect of the Wall Street layoffs
• According to the Wall Street Journal, lenders are eager for General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) and Chrysler LLC.
• Companies are finding it difficult to get financing when they are in bankruptcy.
• New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reached a deal with American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) to review compensation paid to former executives.

When an executive gets a bonus, he should be able to keep it, no matter what happens to his company later. It was given to him by his board of directors. It is their right. Most senior management people have employment contracts. It is all legal. Bonuses drive performance and help retain people who might take jobs elsewhere.

Andrew Cuomo, son of a former governor of New York State, and a man who would like that job, is the Attorney General of the Empire State. He looks at management bonuses a bit differently. He is going after AIG (NYSE: AIG) management compensation to make his point.

According to The New York Times, "The board awarded its chief executive officer a cash bonus of over $5 million and a golden parachute worth $15 million," Mr. Cuomo wrote in a letter to AIG's board. He proposes to take action against the insurance company if it does not relent, but it is not clear what that action would be.

No matter how much popular support there is for cutting huge executive compensation packages, Cuomo wants to undermine the rights of public company boards to use their own judgments on how to handle pay packages for their own senior managers. Cuomo wants to restrict corporate boards from exercising rights which they have had for decades. Will he want to decide how boards compensate management at steel companies or fast-food firms? Where does it end?

Cuomo is out of bounds.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Bloomberg News reports that Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) has extended its Auction Rate Securities (ARS) redemption offer in response to what I thought was pressure from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo who threatened to take Merrill to court. But what is interesting is that Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin was the one who announced the settlement.

While the politics of this intrigue me, those who held Merrill ARSs (pun intended) care about the terms of the settlement. Bloomberg reports that Merrill "will begin the buyback on October 15 for individuals, nonprofits and small business with $3 million or less on deposit. Redemptions for clients with $100 million or less start on January 15." This Merrill deal adds to the one it announced on August 7 -- a voluntary buyback of $10 billion worth of ARS. Merrill has a total of "30,000 clients who held an estimated $12 billion" according to Bloomberg.

This leaves many major ARS issuers lagging behind their peers. Here are four holdouts (with their 2007 municipal ARS issuance in parentheses):

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) ($4.3 B)
• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) ($3.7 B)
• RBC Capital Markets ($1.2 B)
• Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) ($1.1 B)

What are they waiting for?

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) is now the sixth major Auction Rate Securities (ARS) issuer to agree to buy back these long-term securities whose interest rates formerly reset in weekly auctions -- until those auctions failed in February. There seems to be a difference of opinion -- between New York's attorney general and the SEC and Missouri -- regarding the terms of Wachovia's deal.

Andrew Cuomo of New York thinks Wachovia will redeem $8 billion worth of ARS in November and will pay a $50 million fine. The SEC and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said that Wachovia will buy back $5.7 billion by November 28th. The SEC said Wachovia will buy back an additional $3.1 billion in ARS in June 2009 according to the Journal. Wachovia seems to be leaning more to the two-step process outlined by Carnhan and the SEC.

Meanwhile, today's announcement leaves unredeemed the customers from the following top 10 municipal ARS issuers (their 2007 municipal ARS totals are in parentheses):

• Goldman Sachs ($4.3 B)
• Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) ($3.7 B)
• RBC Capital Markets ($1.2 B)
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) ($1.1 B)

I don't know what they're waiting for.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.